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This page is an AI-assisted Turkish summary of the study presented at the 26th World Congress of Psychiatry. The study belongs to the presenting authors; please refer to the original source when citing it.

EV0864

Substantia nigra neuromelanin signal changes in ADHD with apathy emerge through repetitive head-banging behaviors

SUBSTANIA NIGRA NEUROMELANIN SIGNAL CHANGE IN ADHD WITH APATHY IS MEDIATED BY HEAD BANGING REPETITIVE BEHAVIOURS

Apathy is more pronounced in children and adolescents with neurodevelopmental disorders, and the direction of the relationship between substantia nigra neuromelanin signal changes and apathy severity varies with the severity of head-banging behavior.

The study aimed to investigate whether apathy is associated with substantia nigra (SN) neuromelanin-sensitive MRI (NM-MRI) signal intensity and whether head-banging severity moderates this relationship. The sample comprised 47 participants: 33 children and adolescents diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and 14 typically developing (TD) children and adolescents; ages ranged from 7 to 17 years, the mean age was 13.6 ± 2.5 years, and 68% of the sample was male. Behavioral assessments used the Behavior Assessment System for Children (BASC-3) and the Revised and Early Childhood versions of the Repetitive Behavior Scale; principal component analysis (PCA) was applied to 35 relevant BASC-3 items, retaining 16 items, and the PCA-based apathy score explained 47% of the variance. In the imaging analysis, the substantia nigra NM-MRI signal was calculated as the percentage signal change relative to the crus cerebri. Children and adolescents with neurodevelopmental disorders had significantly higher apathy scores than their typically developing peers (p < 0.05). At high levels of head-banging severity, greater SN NM-MRI percentage signal change was associated with greater apathy severity (R squared = 0.45, p = 0.044). The authors note that increases in neuromelanin signal may reflect developmental or compensatory changes in the dopaminergic system following repetitive head impacts, and that early dopaminergic changes may be linked to motivational functioning and long-term neuropsychiatric risk.

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